Day 28....Mushroom Lasagna

Last night I had a craving for comfort food. I've been walking around with Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone like it's a freaking bible. I've got so many tattered little paper bookmarks all over the book that at this point, I might as well start with page one and work my way through.

I've always wanted to make a vegetable lasagna with a white sauce and this recipe really screamed to be made. I also got a chance to pair the fresh mushrooms with some sage right from my herb box. A few pinches of fresh nutmeg......heaven on a plate. Here's my adapted version:

Mushroom Lasagna (from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)
Bechamel sauce (see below)
One pound baby portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
One pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
One pound lasagna noodles (I used a box of oven ready instant noodles which require no precooking)
One cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly milled pepper

Bechamel Sauce:
2 1/2 cups milk
4 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 tablespoons flour
salt
pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
2 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped

1. Make the bechamel sauce. Heat the milk with the onion and sage in a saucepan over medium heat. Turn it off just before it boils and set aside for 15 minutes to steep. In another saucepan, make the roux by melting the butter, adding the flour and stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Quickly pour the milk in to a strainer over the roux and whisk until thickened. Set the pan over very low heat. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. While this is simmering, it's time to get the mushrooms ready.

2. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil, butter and garlic. Add mushrooms. Cook until they begin to color around the edges and soften; about 5 minutes. Toss them with the parsley and transfer to a bowl. Add any juices that collect in the saucepan.

3. Butter a 9x12 baking dish. Cover with a layer of pasta, then with 1/2 cup of bechamel sauce, one-fourth of the mushroom filling, and two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat this layering until you have 4 layers of filling. spread the final layer of pasta with the remaining sauce and cheese.

4. Preheat oven to 400. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until browned in spots on top, 10 to 15 minutes more.